Saving money on electricity with Powershop UK

For my second post looking at Powershop UK, I decided to involve the boys even more. As the service can save people money on their electricity bills, it made sense to do so.

Dylan and Xander are forever leaving lights on, as well as the telly and Xbox. It has become a pet peeve of mine, so this provided an excellent opportunity to educate them on reducing waste and saving money.

Of course, children often need a little motivation for grown up things like this so I came up with the following idea. I would allocate a set budget each day to be divided between electricity and them. Any money left at the end of each day would go towards a new game they’ve wanted for ages.

They understood the incentive straight away – the less electricity they used, the sooner they would get what they wanted.

I have to admit that I’ve been using a test version of the Powershop UK desktop app, but have updated it regularly with our own smart meter readings so the results are pretty accurate.

You can find out how they have fared so far in the video below.

The boys haven’t reached their target yet, but it’s early days. I’ve noticed changes in their approach to using electricity, however. We haven’t had to remind them to switch off lights nearly as often and I’ve only walked in on the TV playing to an empty room once. That’s progress!

They are never backwards in coming forwards if they see me doing something wrong and this has helped too. I always take too long in the shower and often overfill the kettle, so told them about this up front. I have received regular warnings about my electricity usage ever since!

From the budget that I allocated them – which, it has to be said, is generous in the hope that they learn – they have already saved £1.50. This means they’re already 10% of the way to their target of £15. If they keep this up, they will get their game at the end of the month.

While this experiment hasn’t had laboratory standards, the boys do seem to be getting the idea that controlling the use of electricity saves money. I’m proud of them for making more of an effort.

Powershop UK currently has an offer for new customers; if you sign up by 31 March you will get £50 off your first three months’ electricity costs.